Ant and The Grasshopper

On our walk Thursday afternoon we saw several grasshoppers that were struggling to even jump and it made me think back to my childhood days and the poem that I have shared with you below. I memorized this when I was much younger, now I can recite the first stanza! I loved the poem then and love it now. I couldn’t think of a better post than to share this will all of you. There were no ants to be found today, must be tucked away in their winter homes already enjoying the feast of their summer harvest.

The Ant And The Grasshopper

Joseph Crosby Lincoln

You know the story--it's centuries old--
How the Ant and the Grasshopper met, we're told,
On a blustering day, when the wind was cold
And the trees were bare and brown;
And the Grasshopper, being a careless blade,
Who all the summer had danced and played,
Now came to the rich old Ant for aid,
And the latter "turned him down."

It's only fancy, but I suppose
That the Grasshopper wore his summer clothes,
And stood there kicking his frozen toes
And shaking his bones apart;
And the Ant, with a sealskin coat and hat,
Commanded the Grasshopper, brusque and flat,
To "Dance through the winter," and things like that,
Which he thought were "cute" and "smart."

But, mind you, the Ant, all summer long,
Had heard the Grasshopper's merry song,
And had laughed with the rest of the happy throng
At the bubbling notes of glee;
And he said to himself, as his cash he lent,
Or started out to collect his rent,
"The shif'less fool do'n't charge a cent,--
I'm getting the whole show free."

I've never been told how the pair came out--
The Grasshopper starved to death, no doubt,
And the Ant grew richer, and had the gout,
As most of his brethren do;
I know that it's better to save one's self,
And the Ant is considered a wise old elf,
But I like the Grasshopper more myself,--
Though that is between we two.